So this is the dreamy, second-round match up that was to titillate the senses? The type of grudge match that was to rekindle all the deep-seeded ill feelings Chicagoans and Detroiters had for each other in the days of the old Norris Division?

Or not.

The hammer and the nail have no rivalry. The nail may not like the hammer, but it's disdain for it does not constitute a rivalry because the hammer barely acknowledges the nail's existence.

Right now the Blackhawks are the hammer and the Red Wings are the nail. That will not change during the duration of these Western Conference semifinals.

Comments

If anyone is still not convinced that the decades-old ownership the Red Wings have had over the Hawks has not caused some of their followers and fans to slip into a mental state bordering on insanity, I give you the following:

The hammer and the nail have no rivalry. The nail may not like the hammer, but it’s disdain for it does not constitute a rivalry because the hammer barely acknowledges the nail’s existence.

Right now the Blackhawks are the hammer and the Red Wings are the nail.

i’m not sure professional hockey players are any more affected by anything other than what they experience and feel on the ice when engaged shoulder to shoulder and face to face across from another player. They already know better than anyone whether they are challenging the other player or not, if they are being disrespected by the team that beats them down, or are putting up a worthy fight.

I don’t think a player that watches Oduya skate right around them on the ice will care a rip about what some sportswriter puts on paper or the internet. Hockey players probably more than any other pro athlete base their worth on earning the respect of other players. The Wings know better than anyone watching from the stands or on TV that they were bowled over in the last half of the game and unable to even possess the puck long enough to get it past center ice very often.

If they are not already motivated enough to change the dynamic of last game then some random piece of trash will not affect them.

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 05/17/13 at 10:11 AM ET

I thought he would have gone with a tomahawk and scalp reference but since its Chicago I understand the communist hammer reference. It’s more consistent with how the city is run.

I thought he would have gone with a tomahawk and scalp reference but since its Chicago I understand the communist hammer reference. It’s more consistent with how the city is run.

Posted by SlimChance on 05/17/13 at 11:12 AM ET

As a real leftist (i.e. not a Democrat/America’s center-right party), I can tell you, there aren’t any commies running the city of Chicago.

Also, I realize I just fed the fire myself…. but, in the future can we avoid political discussion unless it’s apropos to the discussion at hand? I always enjoy a debate, but a lot of others around here don’t. We should respect that.

Posted by
bezukov
from the kids are alright. on 05/17/13 at 02:16 PM ET

The hammer and the nail have no rivalry. The nail may not like the hammer, but it’s disdain for it does not constitute a rivalry because the hammer barely acknowledges the nail’s existence.

11>4

Fin.

Posted by
CaptNorris5
from The Winged Wheel, stuck in Chicago on 05/17/13 at 02:27 PM ET

It took the Cawks 85 years (or whatever) to win their fourth Cup.

Cock.Envy.

Posted by
SYF
from the C7.R, flyin' low and feelin' mean on 05/17/13 at 02:59 PM ET

I’m sorry. When trolling I should be more aware of the feelings of others. I was using commie as a general label for overreaching, anti-freedom, big gov’t decision makers. My bad. It won’t happen again.

Don’t worry about it. When we say “communists” we tend to refer to totalitarian regimes who’ve cloaked themselves under the supposed auspices of socialist or communist ideologies (see: just about everywhere named the “Democratic Republic” or the “People’s Republic” of X is anything but free).

That, and Chicago’s nuts. I think you could call the political machines in Chicago both communists, socialists, totalitarians, super-liberal, uber-conservative and plain old corrupt all at the same time. Their levels of corruption make the stuff going down at City Council meetings in Detroit, the Wayne County offices and Metro Airport all look like a kid trying to convince his friend that there are three pennies in a nickel.

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